TMPR: Crafting Club Anthems from Finland’s Underground to Global Dancefloors

Hi TMPR, it's great to chat with you!

You have a long and successful track record as a producer and DJ. What inspired you to pursue a career in electronic music, and how did you develop your unique sound?

A deep rooted love in electronic music and underground culture already started in my teenage years that led me into diving deep into different music styles and club cultures including techno, drum’n’bass, punk, hip-hop etc. From all those experiences my own sound formed as a kind of melting pot for all my experiences.

If you don't mind sharing, what was your alias before adopting TMPR, and what prompted the change?

I have actually worked with several aliases and several projects over the years. Temper2 was a project infusing bass music with hip-hop, 1-800-Kreba was about garage, bassline and house. Now diving back deep into my club music roots in house and techno especially.

Can you describe your creative process when producing music? What tools or techniques do you find most effective?

I have used Logic Pro for producing music since the early 00’s and still sticking with it. My musical background originally started with playing guitar which I did in a couple of bands infusing soul, funk and rock and a lot of chord progressions and melodies I think through the guitar.

Your collaborative release with Orkidea, “I Can Feel It,” released on Miss Monique’s Siona Records made waves on global dance music charts. What was the inspiration behind this track, and how do you think it reflects your artistic vision?

”I Can Feel It” is based around a choir sample that I had rolling around a couple of years and was originally meant to be used in a trap track for another artist. One day I just decided to try it on a four to the floor beat and combined it with a bassline. It reminded me of Orkidea’s sound and I asked him to collaborate on the track. We had a session in Orkidea’s kitchen where we finalized the track actually.

You have a new release called Desert Ritual coming out on We Are Existence. Can you share what this track is about and what listeners can expect from it?

Desert Ritual is high energy acid techno influenced track with gated eastern vocals and with big melodies in the breakdown. A massive track and has been a floorfiller at my shows!

You've performed on some of Finland's biggest festival stages and in clubs internationally. What do you find most exhilarating about performing live, and how do you prepare for a set?

I love playing live and taking the listeners on a musical journey with always some musical surprises dropped into the set.

Beyond Desert Ritual, are there any other upcoming projects or releases that fans can look forward to? What direction do you see your music taking in the future?

There’s a lot of music in the works and in the pipeline, my sound has heavily been going into a quite dark club music kind of thing with big rolling basslines and big melodies. My thing is that I want the listener to feel something when listening to my tracks so more of that coming up!

How do you perceive the current state of the techno scene in Finland and globally? What changes or trends have you noticed recently?

The techno scene has been clearly growing in Finland and globally and gotten it’s own separate audiences f.ex. for melodic techno and for hard techno. Banning smart phones at shows seems to be a rising trend which I support 100%, fuck filming and concentrate on the music and dancing.

Who are some of your biggest musical influences, and how have they shaped your style and approach to music?

My biggest musical influences are Massive Attack, Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix. Roni Size Reprazent also had a huge impact on me. From current electronic names I would say Alex Stein, Artbat, Massano, Space92 and Marie Vaunt.

How do you engage with your fans, both online and at live shows? What role do they play in your music journey?

Fans are the people who make it all happen and who enable me in having a career in electronic music so fans are everything, everything and everything! I try to interact and discuss with my followers as much as possible on social media and of course at shows.

With technology constantly evolving, how do you think advancements in music production and DJing equipment have impacted the electronic music scene?

The evolvement of music production becoming accessible and affordable almost to anyone makes everything more democratic. Of course it then also means that you need to be really fucking good to stand out through the masses.

What advice would you give to aspiring DJs and producers looking to make a mark in the electronic music industry?

Do your own thing. Do your homework and study what artists have done before, that’s the only way to truly be able to do something completely new. Keep pushing. Be persistent. Remember that music always comes first, everything else is bullshit.

Thank you for the interview, and good luck for the year 2025 and beyond!